The present invention relates generally to the construction of building structures utilizing relatively stacked log units and, more particularly, relates to a novel arrangement for connecting a plurality of relatively stacked log units together to form a log wall, to a novel arrangement for providing a log wall with the traditional appearance of mortar joints between stacked log units without the attendant disadvantages of such traditional construction, and to a novel corner joint connecting angularly adjoining log walls.
In recent years, the use of wooden logs in stacked relationship as a manner of constructing walls in building structures, particularly homes, has become increasingly popular in view of the natural insulative properties of wood, the aesthetically pleasing rustic appearance of log walls, and the greater simplicity of this manner of construction resulting from contemporary improvements in the art of log building construction enabling the controlled machining of wooden logs to uniform shape and dimensions permitting such logs to be properly assembled in stacked relation by unskilled labor and so-called "do-it-yourselfers."
For centuries, log building structures have utilized relatively unfinished rounded logs manually notched at their ends and stacked into respective log walls with the notched ends of the logs of adjoining walls alternately overlapping one another with their notches relatively engaged. Gaps, or so-called "chinks," which are inherently left between relatively stacked walls due to the notched corner construction as described, have been traditionally filled with a mud or cement-like mortar. The obvious disadvantages of this time-honored but primitive manner of building construction are its requirement for a time-consuming amount of skilled heavy manual labor, the inherent impreciseness of construction resulting from irregularly-shaped logs and the significant loss of the insulative properties of logs resulting from the necessary mortar joints.
A number of contemporary improvements in log building construction have reduced these disadvantages to a reasonable degree. Conventionally, logs are carefully machined to uniform shapes and dimensions to permit more precise stacking of machined log units with respect to one another, as aforementioned. The practice of forming such machined log units with mortise-and-tenon corner joints has also come into increasing conventional use to eliminate the traditional overlapping notched construction of log wall corners, thereby permitting log units to be stacked in direct engagement with one another to eliminate intermediate gaps requiring mortar while at the same time providing a uniform corner appearance. To provide structural integrity between stacked log units in a log wall, various arrangements of spikes or the like have been developed to permit stacked log units to be connected with one another into an integral wall.
The aforementioned improvements have substantially advanced and promoted wider acceptance of logs as a conventional building component. However, certain problems continue to exist in conventional log building construction components and methods. While the use of spikes or the like for integrating stacked log units serves to integrate stacked log units into a structurally sound wall under ordinary circumstances, provided that a sufficient number of spikes are utilized at appropriately close spacings along the full length of a log wall, the natural shrinkage, warping and settling of logs sometimes causes undesirable gaps or spacings to form over time between adjacently stacked log units despite the careful placement of the spikes. According to conventionally accepted construction techniques, such spikes normally connect only adjacent pairs of log units, thereby requiring an appropriate series of spaced spikes to connect each course of log units in the stacking process. As a result, it is impossible to correct gaps and spaces forming subsequent to the initial erection of a log wall. Further, this technique requires a significant amount of time-consuming manual labor to install the necessary spikes during the initial erection of such log walls, which is viewed by many building contractors and potential purchasers as a substantial disadvantage. It has been found that at least some contractors and purchasers tend to install fewer spikes than are recommended in order to reduce the required construction time and labor, which over time only serves to compound the possible occurrence of gaps and spaces between log units. Similarly, while the use of mortise-and-tenon corner joints in log structures has significantly improved the formation of log building corners, some tendency nevertheless exist that such log corners may be constructed out of proper vertically plumbed disposition and may produce some misalignment of the stacked log units making up the corner construction if the mating mortise and tenon portions of the log units are not precisely machined and if they are not carefully assembled in proper relation to one another. Finally, most existing manufacturers of machined log units cut the log units to a considerably smaller size than that of tree-size logs such as have been historically used in log structures constructed according to traditional techniques as aforedescribed. This factor, together with the directly stacked arrangement of such log units without intermediate gaps, produces a log wall appearance which differs to a reasonably significant degree from that of traditional log buildings, which is viewed negatively by some potential purchasers.
Accordingly, a need continues to exist in the contemporary log construction industry for a manner of log wall and corner joint construction which utilizes the advantages of precisely machined log units for producing log building structures having a traditional appearance with minimal occurrence of gaps or spaces between stacked log units.